The China Syndrome


1979 thriller

Rating: 15/20

Plot: A journalist uncovers a potential cover-up at a nuclear power plant.

"Get in tight on the navel." Belly dancing right at the beginning of this. And Jane Fonda? Oh, mercy!

Jane Fonda's character becomes infinitely more interesting in this once it's revealed that she's got a turtle and a tacky goose lamp. Initially, she's overshadowed by what Michael Douglas is doing. What I like best about this is the clash between how Fonda's character wants to be seen or what her career aspirations might be and how others are seeing her as nothing but a soft and beautiful female who should be doing stories on tiger's birthdays, the migration of gray whales, and singing telegrams. And those belly dancers. Oh, mercy!

Hey, there's a game show shown in this that involves a giant pinball machine. Is that real? Why haven't I seen reruns of that on the Game Show Network?

Teen Wolf's dad is in this, and even though his character is trying to explain all this nuclear energy stuff with graphics and everything, I'm still not smart enough to get it. What's easy to understand--and especially relevant in today's world where big corporations are sacrificing our futures and the lives of our offspring because of their own greed--is how people in these positions might cover up something in order to save themselves a buck. Or a million or so bucks. There's a clever moment in this where you hear this Taco Bell commercial, one where the voice over is talking about how fresh and healthy the Taco Bell food is. There's a parallel between the voice making promises in that commercial and the spokespeople for this nuclear power company, isn't there?

Actually, that's probably not a clever moment at all. It's probably just product placement. And now, even though I'm gluten free and never eat Taco Bell food, I have a hankering for a chalupa. A chalupa filled with radiation! Oh, mercy!

Charlie Chaplin makes a sneaky appearance in this movie.

Seriously, somebody find out about that giant pinball machine game show. I'm too busy to look that up.

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